Thawing device for frozen ground.



w. T. Ross. THAWING DEVICE FOR FROZEN GROUND.

A APPLICATION FILED DEC. 28,1908. v 944,382,A Patented Dec.28, 1909.

Iliff!! lllllllllllllllllllllll nl WITNESSES WALTER T. ROSS, OF VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

THAWING DEVICE FOR EROZEN GROUND.

Specification of Letters Patent.. Patented D90. 28, 1909.

Application filed December 28, 1908. Serial No. 469,614.

To all whom 'it may concern:

.Be it known that I, lVAL'rnR T. Ross, a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, residing at Vancouver, in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, have invented a. new and useful Thawing Device for Frozen Ground, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for thawing frozen ground such as is commonly met with in arctic regions, and is designed to ctiect the thawing of the ground to enable mining or other excavation work to be performed. At present the most approved practice to effect this object is to use a pointed metal tube through which steam is passed to delivery apertures in thepoint; but where fuel is scarce, as it usually is in localities where the yground is deeply frozen, the cost of operating such a device is excessive. its in the development of mining countries the .i rivers and streams furnish a liberal supply of power which for convenience of distribution is converted into electrical energy, in the invention which is the subject of this application I place in a thawing tube, toward its point, a coil of wire of such resistance that the passage of an electric current `through it will hea-t it to -an extent that itwill effect the thawing of frozen ground either by the direct conduction of the heat to the tube or to a current of air or steam which may be passed through the coil and delivered through the point of the tube, or by a combination of both.

The invention is particularly described in thc following specification, reference being made to the drawings by which it is accompanied, in which:

Figure 1 .is a vertical section through a tube showing the application of a heating coil thereto, Fig. 2, a similar view of the saine showing the delivery therethrough of air 'or steam under pressure, and Fig. 3, an enlarged detail showing how the heating coil may be removably inserted into the lower end of the thawing tube. Fig. 4, is a detail sectional -view on an enlarged'scale of a part of theinvention. l

In these drawings 2 represents an iron or steel tube, to theulpper end of which is permanently secured either by welding or brazing a steel cap 8 designed to receivethe impact of blows in driving the tube into the ground. This cap 3" is furnished with a cross handle 4, preferably endwise movable. In the lower end of the tube 2 is screwed tically iluted'as at`8 in Fig. 2 to offer a if greater heating surface.

That portion of the plug over which the tube 2 is screwed should be recessed as at 9 that the end of the heating coil may be carried as far toward the point as possible, and 'into the bottom of this recess 9 is screwed a coil core stem 10, the upper end of which is 'furnished with a collar 11, between which and the plug 5 the heating coil 12 extends.

The heating coil 12 is preferably made of met-al of rectangular cross section coiled on a cylindrical stem 10 with insulation 14 between it and the stem and between the coils which are tightly screwed down on the interplaced insulation by nuts 18 outside of the collar 11, which may be insulated from the stem 10 so that one of the wires 15 of an external circuit entering the tube through an insulating plug 17, may be connected electrically with the coil 12 by attachment at .16 to the collar. The lower end of the heating coil 12 is in electrical connection with the plug 5 so that the current may return through the metal of the tube 2 to which the return wirel is connected at 18.

If it is desired to combine with the heating coil a delivery of steam or air to disperse the heat, the coil stem 10 is made of tube as shown in Fig. 2 and the plug 5 and point 7 are provided with delivery apertures 2O in connection therewith. The upper end of 10 is connected by a pipe 2 1 to an external source of compressed air or steam through a plug 22 and pipe 28, to which a hose pipe may be connected. lith this arrangement the air or steam as it passes through the coil will be heated or superheated before delivery from the point.

In Fig. 3 is merely shown a ready means for electrically connecting the heating coil 12 to the contacts of the electric circuit within the thawing tube. A split contact socket ,25 is supported by but insulated from a rod 26 and washer 27 secured to the upper end of the thawing tube 2, and to this contact socket 25 one of the wires of the exterior circuit is connected at 16. On the upper end of the coil stem 10, and suitably insulated therefrom, is secured a contact sleeve 28 connected at 29 with the coil 12 and tightly fitting wit-hin the split contact socket 25. W'ith this construction, the coil is inserted in the lowei end of the thawing tube and on being screwed up into place electrical contact is made by the sleeve 28 within the socket 25.

In the use of the device, the wires are connected and the current turned on, and as the lower end of the tube 2 and its point- 7 become heated by the passage of the current through the coil 12 the tube is pounded into the thawed and softened ground; the pounding in being repeated from time to time as thawing is effected and accompanied occasionally by axial oscillation by means of the cross handle 4:.

Having now particularly described my invention and the manner of its use, I hereby declare that what I claim is new and desire to be protected in by Let-ters Patent is:

l. As a means of thawing frozen ground, the combination with a metal tube having an anvil cap and a pointed lower end, of an electric heating' coil toward the lower part of the tube, and means for connecting the wires of an external electric circuit to the heating coil and means for passing a fluid through said tube, said heating coil and said pointed lower end.

2. As a means for thawing frozen ground, a coil offering such resistance to the passage of an electric current through it that it will be sensibly heated thereby said coil being inclosed in an iron or steel tube pointed for entrance into .the ground and means for passing a fluid through said pointed tube and said heating coil.

3. A means for thawing frozen ground comprising a tube having a plug at one end and a pointed cap secured to said plug, said tube having an anvil cap at its other end and a turning rod passed through said anvil cap, a heating coil within said tube and having a core threaded into said. plug, means for maintaining said coil on said core, a current conducting wire connected with said coil and passed upwardly toward the top ot said tube and an insulated bushing in the wall of said tube though which saidwire passes, and electrical connections between said heating coil and said plug.

il; A means for thawing frozen ground ycomprising a tube having a plug in one end and a pointed cap secured to said plug, of a heating coil within the tube and having a core threaded into said plug, means for maintaining said coil on said core, said cap and said pointed member having-a uid passage and said core having a fluid passage, and means for passing a fluid into said tube to pass through said core and saidfluid passages of said cap and core.

Ilia/inea 5. A device for thawing frozen ground comprising a tube having a threaded plug in its lower end and provided with a pointed member, said plug and said pointed member having fluid passages,a heating coil having a hollow core secured to said plug to register-with said fluid passages, a pipe within said tube connected to said core and means for passing fluid through the wall of said l tube into said pipe, substantially as shown i and described.

G. As a means for thawing frozen ground, in combination, an iron or steel tubo having an anvil cap secured to it and provided with a cross bar, a point removably secured in the lf -vei' end of the tube, having apertures -through which steam or air may be delivered, a tubular coil core secured in the removable lower end and connected with its discharge apertures, a tube connecting the coil core with an external supply of fluid under pressure, a coil surrounding but electrically insulated from the coil coie which coil is connected at its upper end with one wireof an external electric circuit and at its lower end with the tube,rinsulation bctween the rounds of the coil, means for tightening the rounds of the coil on this insulation and means for connecting the tube with the return wire of the external circuit.

7. As a means for thawing frozen ground, the combination with a tube having an anvil cap at its lower end and a plug removably closing its lower end to which plug a coiioidal point is removably connected, a .Y

split contact socket toward the lower part of the tube secured to but insulated from the upper part of the tube and laterally supported to the tube to which contact one of the wires of an external electric circuit is connected, a coil core secured to the plug which closes the lower end ol the tube and having at its upper end a contact sleeve designed to fit tightly in the contact socket said sleeve being insulated from the coil core, a heating coil surrounding but insulated from the coil core but connected electrically with the contact lsleeve and the plug which closes the lower end of the tube, said coil having insulation between its rounds, and means for tightening the rounds of the coil on its insulation and on its end contacts.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

` VVAIER T. ROSS.

l/Vitnesses:

H. J. Ross,

Rowan-ND Barrfraiii.

ii o 

